Family Love
by emshosh
Summary: What if Neal hadn't listened to August and stayed with Emma? Some Swan Fire family fluff.
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note: Hey everyone! New story, don't worry I'll keep on updating my other story as well. Hope you all like this. Reviews are loved and appreciated! Enjoy :)

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Chapter 1

If there was one thing that Emma Swan loved, it was her sleep. She wasn't completely ecstatic when she awoke in the middle of the night feeling a hard kick. She looked down at her swollen stomach and rubbed the spot where her baby had last kicked, and sighed. "Seriously, kid, I love you to death but I need to sleep." She could only laugh at the kick she received back. "Oh kid, I can tell we are in for some long nights." She rolled her eyes and sat herself up, it was only then that she realized that she was alone in the bed. She sat there for a few minutes wondering why it was empty. She decided that she would get up and check if she could find the missing person. Once she managed to get herself and her very big stomach out of bed, she made her way to her bedroom door and opened it. Two doors down she saw a light on and knew instantly where her man was. She waddled her way down the hall. Once she arrived, she let her body lean against the frame of the door, smiling. Neal was sitting on the floor attempting to put the crib together, cursing quietly to himself when something wouldn't go his way. Emma just stood there, until she saw him struggling with a piece of the crib. "That piece is supposed to go over there," she pointed, and Neal jumped at the sound of her voice.

"Emma, you scared me!" He took a deep breath to calm himself down. "And I can put the crib together, thank you."

"Really? Because from where I'm standing it doesn't seem like that," she laughed.

"Well, maybe it will look different if you sit on the rocking chair over here." He pointed in the direction of the chair in the corner, next to the window.

"Nope, sorry babe, I think from anywhere I stand it will look like you don't know what you're doing."

"Emma, I can put my child's crib together."

"Neal, I don't know if I would feel safe putting our baby in that." She signaled over towards the crib. Honestly, no offense to Neal, it wasn't in great shape, parts were obviously missing.

"Emma, this crib will be the safest place for our baby." He walked over and placed his hand on her belly. Just as he felt a kick the crib came crashing down and Emma let out a laugh. "Shut up," he murmured.

"I love you." She gave him a small peck. "But maybe putting the crib together at 3 in the morning isn't the smartest thing."

"But the baby can come whenever it chooses! The crib needs to be done! That was my one job!" Neal looked all teary eyed and Emma hid a laugh, Neal was way too tired and over-analyzing this situation. Emma had enjoyed nesting, picking things for her baby, the things that she never got to have. She had chosen what to put inside and Neal had declared that he would get the crib set up.

"Ok, well, you can restart it tomorrow. You have the day off and the baby and I would enjoy helping daddy build the crib." She could see Neal smile. "And Neal," she shook her head with a giggle, "the baby won't need a crib when we get home. The baby has the bassinet in our room." She could see him breath out a sigh of relief.

"Well, ok." He took one last look at the fallen crib. "Bed?" he asked.

"Yes, please! I think your child is sleeping. Well, at least not kicking at the moment and apparently I need as much sleep as I can get before the baby is really here." She led him out of the room.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you when I got home today, I talked to Jerry and he said once the baby's here I can take some time off work to help you out." Neal was so thankful for his boss. Luckily, his boss was more than understanding about their situation. After he learnt about their childhood and hard lives, his boss became almost like a father to Neal and Emma. They knew that they could count on him, something neither of them really had.

"I know." Emma attempted to get into bed.

"You know?" Neal questioned back, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Yes, Neal. Jerry and I talked about it three weeks ago when I came to visit you at work." She finally got herself onto the bed and quickly got under the covers. "Honestly, we were surprised it took you this long to ask him about it."

"I didn't want to risk it. I mean, I know he's been amazing and all but I didn't want to push my luck."

"Well, it's good that you talked to him." Emma yawned and rested her head on the pillow, turning her head slightly to see Neal lying on his side watching her.

"This is happening so fast isn't it?" Neal's hands went to Emma's belly.

"Yeah, it really is. I also have a feeling that this little guy is not going to wait for 9 months."

"Guy? I thought we didn't know what we were having." They had both decided against learning the gender of their baby, thinking it would be a nice surprise to wait.

"I'm just taking a small guess."

"Well, in that case, any name you want to run by me?"

"I, maybe have a couple. But, I mean, I think we can come up with all the names in the world now but we won't know what name to truly use until we're holding him."

"You really don't want to tell me the name you picked," Neal stated. "Come on, Em! I told you all my choices!"

"They were all girl names and, well, I don't think we need to have those."

"How do you know for sure though? It wouldn't hurt to have some." He shrugged a little hurt.

"A mother knows. How about this, if it's a girl we can go with a name that you choose, but I have to agree on it. But if it's a boy I choose"

"And I have to agree with the name you choose."

"I'm not going to make you name our child a name you don't like," Emma rolled her eyes. "Do we have a deal?"

"Uh, yeah. Deal." He gave her a small kiss, she smiled back at him and let out a little yawn. He gave her tummy a kiss and rested his nose on it "Hey kid, why don't we let mommy sleep in a little, huh?" The baby didn't kick back and Neal took that as an agreement. Emma let her fingers run through Neal's hair and she couldn't help but smile at him. "What?"

"You are going to be an amazing father, you know that right?"

"I'm glad you think so. I think you're going to be the best mom." He laid back down on his side and allowed her to cuddle into him. "I love you."

"Love you." Emma closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep in the arms of the man she could always count on to be there for her. Neal let out a giggle when he realized how fast she had fallen asleep.

"Oh our lives are about to change and only for the better." Neal closed his eyes and, with the help of his true love being curled up into him, he drifted off to sleep.

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**Hey guys! Hope you liked it. Let me know if you think I should continue :)**


	2. Chapter 2

Authors Note: Hey guys, here's chapter 2. Hope you enjoy. Reviews are loved and always get me writing a little faster :) Enjoy

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Chapter 2

It hurt, it really, really hurt, but for Emma Swan all the pain was worth it when she got to see and hear her baby boy. This day was not the boring and restful day that she had planned, boy, had it turned into something else. The morning started off just like any other. She had struggled to get herself out of bed but once she did she waddled her way into the kitchen to get herself something to eat. She opened the door to the fridge and grinned, Neal had left her a little note on the shelf.

Hey Em,

Made you some food to get you and the baby all plump. Enjoy :) Love you and call me if you need anything. And please relax!

~Love you

It was the small moments like these when she thought that she was the luckiest girl in the world to have a man like Neal. She looked next to the fridge on the counter and saw the plate full of food. Thankfully it wasn't all unhealthy. He topped it off with a little fruit cup to go with the pancakes, toast and eggs. She spotted a little note next to the plate.

Aha! You found me! See, wasn't that hard :) Now eat me!

~ Love you

P.S Didn't make the hot chocolate because I didn't know what time you would wake up and I know you like it hot.

After eating the delicious meal her boyfriend had made her, she decided that a hot shower would feel nice on her aching body. Once the shower was done, Emma made her way to her baby's nursery. It wasn't a giant room, but it was still something. When Emma and Neal decided that they would continue on with their plans to move to Tallahassee, they had also decided that getting real jobs would be the first thing on their to do list, because even though $20,000 was a lot of money it wouldn't be able to keep them going forever. When they had arrived they had found a nice small apartment with two bedrooms, one bathroom, a decent size kitchen and a living/dining room. The next day they were moving in. The bigger bedroom, of course, went to Emma and Neal but the real question was what were they going to do with the second one? Neal tried to convince Emma to have it as an office, which was something Emma agreed upon until she found out she was pregnant. Emma's suggestion that they should make it a nursery was how Neal found out he was going to have a baby. Of course, after finding out they were expecting, they decided it would be the nursery. Emma walked over to the rocking chair and picked up a little bear that was sitting there. She laughed and put it back in its rightful place next to the picture frame of the ultra sound on the cupboard. The crib was finally built and Emma could only roll her eyes remembering how much of a struggle that was, but Neal had finally done it and she had to give him credit for it because it looked really good. And that was when it started, the first contraction hit and she had to lean over and use the crib to support herself. Letting it pass, she moved as fast as she could to the phone and dialed Neal's office number but there was no answer. She hung up and dialed Jerry's, after two rings he picked up the phone "Hello? Jerry speaking."

"Jerry, it's Emma," she breathed out.

"Hey, Em. Everything ok?"

"No, no it's not ok, and I can't get a hold of Neal." She was shaking, sure they had gone to some classes and read about this but being alone was scaring her.

"Emma, breathe. What's wrong?" Jerry tried to sooth her.

"Contraction...hurting!" She bent over when another contraction hit her.

"Ok, Emma, calm down, and breathe, ok? Can you tell me how long you've had them?" Having three children of his own, Jerry knew a little about what was going on.

"I don't know. I was having some pains last night and small ones in the morning but I thought that they were Braxton hicks," she admitted.

"Ok, well, it's getting towards the end. You have your bag ready to go?"

Emma looked over to the other couch and the bag Neal had made her prepare a week ago was still sitting there "Yeah, it's ready to go."

"Ok, now what I want you to do is to calm down, and try to relax. Sit down, and I want you to time how far apart the contractions are, ok? Can you do that for me?"

"Yes." She started to calm herself down.

"Good. Now, I'm going to get Neal and he will be there in 10 minutes, ok? But to go and get Neal I have to get off the phone, but you call me if you need me, ok? Ok, Emma?"

"Ok, thank you, Jerry."

"Any time, honey." The phone disconnected and Emma did as she was told.

By the time Neal had gotten home, Emma had calmed herself down and focused on her baby. "Emma!" Neal burst through the door and ran to her side and kissed her. "How are you doing?"

"You know, I've been better." Neal pushed her hair back from her face as he saw another contraction hit her. Neal did as he was taught and helped Emma through it as much as possible and when the contraction was over he kissed her again. "I called the doctor. They said to come in." Emma explained to him how the pain she was feeling during the night was not what they thought it was, and that it was real labor. Neal helped her get off the couch and ran to get her sweater and bag. As they walked out of the doors, Neal looked up at her and smiled. "What?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"Next time we come home it will be with the baby," he gleamed. "This is the last time we leave the apartment as us two, next time we will be a family of three." They both took a moment to take that in.

Next thing Emma knew, she was at the hospital, in a bed surrounded by monitors. The hours passed by and Neal wouldn't leave her side, except when he needed to use the washroom or get her some more ice chips. Finally, 7 hours later, the doctor and the nurses started telling her to push and Emma did as instructed. After 30 minutes of pushing, they heard a small cry and both Emma and Neal were in tears. "It's a boy." The doctor looked at the proud parents and showed them the newborn before the nurses whisked him off to get cleaned up.

Neal looked down at Emma who looked completely exhausted and kissed her. "You did great, babe"

"Oh yeah, not doing this again for a long time," Emma laughed and gave Neal a small peck before looking over to the pack of nurses examining her son. It didn't take long before the nurse put the baby in Emma's arms and she couldn't control the amount of tears that fell from her eyes. "He's perfect." She kissed the top of the baby's head. "Hey kid, I'm your mom." She took his little hand and kissed it.

"Doc, everything good?" Neal looked at the doctor who hadn't spoken up yet.

"You both are looking at a completely healthy, seven pound, baby boy." The doctor smiled at the new parents and took the baby back into his arms to be examined more. After what seemed like an eternity, the doctor returned with the baby and handed him back to his parents. He then left the room, giving them a couple of minutes alone. The two nodded their heads and their eyes darted back to their son.

"He's amazing, Em." Neal climbed into the bed next to Emma, placing his hand protectively on his son's crown.

"A little prince," Emma laughed.

"So I guess you won," Neal laughed.

"Guess? Babe, no guessing. I did win." Emma studied her baby, looking at him in wonder.

"Alright, then seeing as you won, what's his name?" Neal kept on shifting his gaze from Emma to the little baby in her arms.

"Ok, now, you honestly say if you agree, ok? I was serious when we made the bet that I don't want our son having a name his father doesn't like."

"I promise."

"Well, I have two. A middle and a first name."

"Mhm, and what would the middle name be?"

"David." Emma looked up and him and smiled, Neal just tilted his head wondering where the name came from. "Don't give me that look. I don't know I've just always liked the name David. Always felt like I had a connection to it."

"Well, I like it." He smiled and he could see that she let out a breath of relief. "Now what is his first name going to be?"

Emma's eyes stayed on her son, she looked him up and down making sure the name she picked felt right and then turned her head towards Neal. "Henry, his name is Henry."

"Henry, hmm. I like it. Henry David Swan-Cassidy, welcome to the world." He kissed Henry's head and Emma gently passed Henry into his arms. Neal couldn't hide the tears when he saw his son looking up at him. "Hi Henry, I'm your dad."


	3. Chapter 3

Authors Note: Tada, another chapter just because I feel bad it took me so long to update last time. Enjoy :)

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Chapter 3

"Neal," Emma croaked.

"Mmm?" He replied lost in sleep.

"Neal." Emma gave him a small shove, well, as much of a shove she could give him, being half asleep, and still in pain from the birth.

"What?" he mumbled, not giving up his sleep.

"Henry. Your turn." That's when he started to hear his son's cries.

"I got him last time," he grumbled out and turned back onto his side.

"No, _I_ did. He needed to be changed so I got up and did that, and I got him before that, when he wanted to be held and again the time before that, when he needed to be fed!" She sounded annoyed and Neal didn't want to make her angry.

"Babe," he whispered into her ear.

"Neal, seriously, if you're not going to get him, let me know. I don't like my son crying." She was about to get out of bed before he held out his arm to stop her.

"No, it's ok, I'll get him." He gave her a small kiss and got out of bed.

"Thank you. I miss those first few days when you wouldn't let me move." When Emma and Henry had gotten home from the hospital, Neal would try and do everything that he could possibly do. He knew that Emma was sore and tired. He didn't want her doing anything that would make her feel even worse, so he made a rule that she was to relax as he did the house work (something that Emma was fine with, at the time). After three days, Emma was a little sick of doing nothing and talked Neal into letting her do more and more things around the house.

Neal stood at the foot of the bed, reaching down into the bassinet to cradle his son in his arms. "Hey Buddy, what's the matter?" Neal tried to copy the soothing tone that Emma had perfected over the last couple of days. But when Henry didn't calm down, Neal wasn't sure what to do, so he tried to rock him back and forth hoping that the motion would make him sleepy, but that didn't work either. _Maybe a different motion would help_, Neal thought to himself as he bounced Henry is his arms. Nothing was working and Neal couldn't figure out what was wrong until he looked down at Henry and could see that he was searching for something, something he usually did when he was hungry. "Ummmmm, Em?" He clenched his teeth, hoping she wouldn't get annoyed for being woken up again.

"Mhm?" she whispered, trying so hard to pretend to be sleeping.

"I don't think I can handle it this time. I don't produce milk and I think that's what he needs." He looked embarrassed.

"Ok," Emma sighed and forced her body up, to lean against the wall.

"See, Henry, mommy knows exactly what we need." He kissed the top of his son's head before handing him to Emma. Instantly the baby began eating and Emma gently rubbed her finger against his little pink cheek. Neal sat down next to her, taking back his spot in bed. Looking at his family couldn't make him happier, and then he felt guilt take over him as he remembered what happened minutes ago when Emma had asked him to get Henry. "I'm sorry babe." He looked into Emma's eyes and he could see her eyes roll. "I don't know why I got like that, and I'm sorry you've gotten up the last three times. I didn't realize how tired I was and then you said 'you're turn', and I thought that is was yours because I didn't wake up when he woke up last time," he was babbling.

"Yeah, if you wanted to go with the 'it's your turn' I was going to use that when you ask me about having another one."

"Yeah, I'm not as strong as you. I couldn't handle that," he tried.

"Flattery will get you nowhere." He looked away, and for a second he thought that she might have still been annoyed with him, but when he felt her lips on his he realized she wasn't."But thank you for getting up. Even if it was just to hand him to me." She gave him another small kiss before returning her gaze back to her feeding son.

"These past few days have been amazing. I mean, I could deal without the sleepless nights, but still. I couldn't imagine myself being so happy." Neal looked up and gave his charming smile.

"I know. Looking at Henry, and I just wonder how they did it." He could see some tears forming in Emma's eyes.

"Wonder what?" He doesn't want to push, but maybe talking about it would make her feel better about it.

"How could they just leave me? I could never do that with him." She felt Henry stir. Realizing he was done eating, she placed him on her shoulder and rubbed circles on his back waiting to hear a burp. When she did she laid him on her chest and placed her arms around him protectively. "I don't get how you can carry someone around for nine months, give birth to them, hold them, see them, and then just let them go. Remember when I told you I was pregnant and you asked what we were going to do?" Neal nodded his head, he remembered that moment vividly. He never wanted to tell Emma what to do, she was 17, but he wanted his baby, he wanted to be a good father and prove that he wasn't like his own. "I've loved Henry since I saw that plus sign on the pregnancy test and I never wanted to let him go. I don't understand how they could just leave me on the side of a road, to die. On top of all that, who leaves a baby on the side of a road with that baby blanket? My name was made with that blanket. Who would go through the effort of having that blanket made for a baby they planned on dumping?" She looked over to the corner, seeing that same exact blanket, something she had never been able to part with.

Neal couldn't help but feel guilty. He knew, he knew the truth. She wasn't just abandoned, August had told him himself. Emma was wanted, she was loved. She meant the world to her parents. She was sent to this world for her own protection. Neal would uphold his end of the deal he made with August and he didn't care if that meant that he would have to see his father again. Emma would break the curse and be reunited with her parents and learn the truth. "Hello? Neal?" He snapped out of his thoughts.

"Sorry, zoned out." He shook his head to clear his mind. "Maybe they had a reason."

"Yeah, you know what, you find them and then they can tell me the reason." She was done with this conversation and Henry agreed as he started to coo and wiggle, snuggling into his mother's warm body.

"Hey, buddy." He could see Henry's face facing his. "Yeah, I know, mommy's the most wonderful person in the entire world and we love her very much. Without mommy we would be lost. She's the best and you are so lucky to have her as your mommy." He kissed Henry's nose and watched the baby scrunch his face at the feeling.

"Yeah, and daddy's annoying us right now," she laughed. "But thank you." She kissed Neal's nose and he mimicked Henry which only made Emma giggle a little more.

"I love it when you laugh." Neal moved so that Emma could lean her body against his.

"I love you," she replied softly.

"I love you, and I love our son." He kissed her head and intertwined his fingers with Emma's on Henry's back.

"Goodnight baby boy, mommy loves you." Emma kissed the crown of Henry's head and closed her eyes hearing Neal's heartbeat.

Neal proudly looked at his family and vowed that no matter what, he was going to get Emma back to her parents. She was going to feel loved and no matter what, she would always be happy. _Now, to begin the journey to finding a town that didn't want to be found,_ he thought, and it was then that he knew that this wasn't going to be easy.

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**Hope you enjoyed the chapter :) Reviews are always loved and appreciated :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Hey Guys! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and follows! I love hearing from you guys! Sorry this took so long, who knew even with being out of school that I would have no time. I hope to update sooner. Anyways Enjoy and let me know what you think. Thanks Everyone :)

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Chapter 4

Emma stood in the kitchen, attempting to fix her hair so it would stop getting in her face. Once she finally got her mess of wavy blond hair successfully up, she continued to place the fruits and veggies, she had previously cut up, into small containers. She started to get lost in her thoughts until she felt something crash into her legs and arms wrap around them. "MOMMY!"

Her eyes met Henry's and she smiled as he reached up for her to pick him up. As Emma lifted Henry, he threw his little arms around her neck. "Hey, Kiddo!" She kissed his cheek and he giggled. "Where's daddy?" Henry pointed to the hall just as Neal came into view.

"Someone decided to escape his bedroom and run to mommy while daddy was finishing cleaning up." Neal raised his brow and looked at Henry, who in return gave a smile. Oh, this kid already knew how to use his cuteness as a power.

"Well, of course, mommy is so much cooler than daddy." Emma gave Henry's tummy a little tickle and he burst out into a fit of giggles.

"I would have to agree." Neal walked up and gave Emma a quick kiss and stole a carrot. "So what's the plan for today?"

Neal grabbed a couple more veggies out of the containers. "We are going to have a picnic in the park", she stated. "But, only if you would stop eating the food I've prepared." Emma moved the food out of Neal's reach."Hmm, Henry, would you like to go to the park?" She turned her attention to her son.

Henry let out a small gasp in excitement. "YAY!" he clapped his hands.

"Park and picnic it is," Neal agreed as henry let out another squeal in excitement.

Once they finally arrived at the park, Henry couldn't stay still, all he could see were the swings and slides that he loved so much. The one year old pointed to the swings signaling to where he wanted to go. "Sings," he repeated over and over again until his mother finally placed him into the seat. "Weeeeeeeeeeee!" He laughed as Emma started to push the swing at just the right speed.

Neal laughed at Henry's enthusiasm. "Hey buddy, do you want to go a little faster? Show mommy how we boys do it?" Henry gave his father a little nod.

Giving Henry's head a kiss, Emma moved to the front to watch them. As the swing would go faster and higher, Henry would let go of the swing and clap, giggling the entire time. It only made Emma worry about how much of a daredevil her child would be in the future, even if this was only a baby swing.

Once he got bored of the swings, Henry ran over to the slide and attempted to climb the stairs. "Hey, buddy, wait for us." Neal chuckled as he caught Henry in his arms. After a couple of rounds at the slides, and sitting on his father's lap on the seesaw, Henry finally started to get tired and a little hungry. The family moved towards their blanket they had set up on the ground and pulled out the food.

It wasn't long after Henry had eaten, for him to fall asleep in his mother's arms. Henry could never fight off sleep when his mother stroked his hair, and so he leaned his head on her chest, listening to her heart beat and let sleep take over. "I think he's asleep," Neal noted, bitting into a pear.

"We can always count on a good nap after the park." Emma laughed and moved Henry so he was still resting his head on her chest but that she could reach the food. "He's growing up so fast."

"That's what Jerry said yesterday. He was so surprised at how much he walked and ran around."

"We have a son that is just a burst of energy."

"And don't forget his curiosity. I seriously need to Henry-proof my office before he comes back next time," Neal laughed.

"You mean you haven't already?" Emma raised her eyebrow at her boyfriend.

"Well, I mean... I had it somewhat baby proofed, but he's never really come to the office when he was walking on his own," Neal argued and took another bite out of his pear. They both stayed silent for a little while as they ate, both glancing at each other and smiling every time they caught each other looking. "Em?"

"Yeah?" Emma looked up at Neal, she instantly started to rub Henry's back as he stirred in her arms until he went still again.

"I was wondering..." He didn't know what he was doing. He wasn't ready to do this. What if she just laughed at him? Even though he had gone over this, over and over again to prepare, but his nerves were getting the best of him.

"You were wondering?" Emma could only see fear in Neal's eyes. "Babe?"

"I know you said that you didn't want to get married because we were having Henry, but, I mean, we've been together and I couldn't imagine anyone else that I would want to spend my life with."

"Is this going where I think it's going? Because if it is, Neal, it's not the best time to ask me while I'm holding our sleeping son," Emma joked trying to ease his mind.

"Let me finish," he pleaded and she threw a hand up in the air letting him continue. "I was going to wait to ask you, because I had an evening planned... I was going to be romantic, I was going to surprise you, but Emma Swan, I don't want to wait. I can't think of a better time to ask you that would feel more right than right now." He paused and closed his eyes trying to mutter up the confidence for his next question. "Emma Swan, will you marry me?" He stared into her eyes and he could see them starting to glisten over with tears, and he felt his own eyes starting to tear up.

"If I wasn't holding our sleeping one year old, I would be jumping into your arms right about now," Emma smiled.

"So is that a 'yes'?" Neal hoped and secretly wished it wasn't Emma's way of ignoring his question.

"Neal Cassidy, that is a definite 'yes'." Emma leaned in and kissed him. A smile spread across both their faces. It was then that Neal pulled out the box from his pocket and Emma looked at him in even more shock. "Neal you brought the ring with you, to the park?"

"Yeah," he shyly admitted, then continued, "as I said I was going to propose when I took you out two nights from now, but I mean, I don't know, something in my mind this morning just told me to take it. And you know what? Now just felt like the right time. With Henry sleeping in your arms, being in the park surrounded by nature. I don't know... I just hope you're not disappointed and would rather have the romantic proposal." Neal had already started to second guess his decision, Jerry had helped him plan the evening and he knew that Emma would have loved it.

"Hey, Babe. Look at me." Emma turned Neal's face so it was facing hers. "Now, don't even think for a second that I would have liked that one better. This one is more like us. And I couldn't agree more with you, having Henry here, although he's asleep, I mean, it makes me feel whole. And I love you more than the world itself, Neal Cassidy, and I couldn't think of a better man that I would want to marry."

"You mean it?"

"Who's the one proposing here?" Emma laughed.

"Sorry." Neal gave her a quick kiss and opened the box. Emma gasped at the ring. "I'm guessing you like the ring?" Neal's smile grew.

"This is beautiful Neal! How on earth did you pick it?" Neal finished placing the ring on Emma's finger, and she couldn't take her eyes of it.

"Haha, don't worry Em, I didn't steal it," he joked, although now wasn't the right time to be bringing up their pasts as thieves. Sure, they talked about their past, but those weren't their proudest moments. "Jerry helped me pick it out," he continued. "Do you know how many stores I went to in order to find the perfect ring?" He scooted closer so that Emma could rest against his chest. Neal took Emma's left hand in his, and he ran his free hand through Henry's hair.

"You did a great job. I'm proud." Emma kissed his cheek. "I think you could have given me a ring made from flowers and I would have loved it"

"I know, but you deserve this, and so much more," His eyes never left Emma's.

"I have everything I deserve right here. My boys, are all I need to make me happy. Well, you can throw in chocolate in that mix too." Emma kissed Henry and then Neal.

As Neal laughed at his fiancé, Henry began to wake up. Hands rubbing over his little eyes, he looked at his parents. "Look who's decided to join the party." Neal tasseled Henry's hair and he smiled.

"I think a couple more swings and slides and he'll be out like a light for the rest of the night," Emma smirked as she watched Henry continue to rub his sleepy eyes.

"Shall we go swing then?" Neal stood up and held his hand out to help Emma up. Once they were all standing, Neal took Henry into his arms and walked towards the swings. "Hey buddy, mommy said yes to daddy. Mommy and daddy are going to get married. I guess that means no more making you listen to my proposal speech." Emma laughed as she listened to Neal talking to their son.

"Yay!" Henry clapped, clearly not understanding what his father was saying, but the excitement in Neal's voice made Henry feel like it was the right thing to do.

Neal then stopped walking to let Emma catch up to them. As Emma caught up, they both looked at each other before they kissed and Henry continued his clapping. With another squeal from Henry, they were brought back to reality and laughed. "So when do you think we should have the wedding?" Emma questioned and Neal groaned. "Didn't think that we'd start talking about it this soon?" Neal shook his head. "Go play on the swings," Emma laughed and Neal marched onward to the swings tickling Henry. She looked back down at the ring on her finger and took a second to really enjoy the moment. She was going to marry Neal Cassidy and she couldn't be happier.

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Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter might just include something about Storybrooke. Don't forget to review :)


	5. Chapter 5

Hey Guys! I'm really sorry it took so long to update. I just wanted to say, thanks you all that reviewed and all the new follows. Here's the next chapter and I hope you enjoy :)

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All Neal wanted to do at this very moment, was get into his bed, and sleep, but he also knew that he wanted nothing more than to kiss his family hello. He walked into the apartment and took off his jacket, he headed towards his bedroom to take a quick glance at Emma before checking on his son. It was late at night and Neal knew that Emma would be sleeping, so he carefully opened the bedroom door and looked over to his bed. He couldn't help but smile at Emma, she had taken over the entire bed but Henry was still safely tucked and cuddled in her arms. As Neal turned around to grab a pair of flannel pajamas, he could hear Emma's soft snores. Oh- how he missed hearing those small snores for the past three nights. Hopefully with the comforting sounds from home, he would be able to get a decent amount of sleep for the first time in days. After he had changed he walked towards Emma's side of the bed. Henry was cuddled into his mother's side, and when the boy felt the bed sink a little, his eyes shot open and a smile spread across his face. "Hey, buddy." Neal gave his son a small kiss on his cheek and ran his fingers through his hair.

"DADDY!" The boy whispered with excitement, he had clearly missed his father. Neal laughed and placed a finger on his own lips trying to get Henry to stay at a whisper. He could tell that Henry was struggling to escape his mother's arms. Deciding to help his son out, Neal tried to slowly loosen Emma's hold without waking her. When Henry was finally out of Emma's grasp, he shot his little arms around Neal's neck, as Neal pulled him into a bear hug.

"I missed you too, bud." Neal closed his eyes to take this moment in. On his trip, he couldn't wait to get a Henry-hug, and now that he was holding his son tight, he never wanted to let go. Sure, he had called home at least once a day to talk to Emma, and for Emma to put the phone to Henry's ear, but it wasn't the same thing, he wasn't actually there.

It wasn't long after Henry was out of her arms that she begun to stir, but Neal didn't pick up on the movement. "Henry!" Emma shot out when she realized her son was no longer in her arms. Her eyes searched the room until she saw Neal holding her son. It was then she let out the breath she had been holding. Realizing he had just given her a heart attack, Neal turned around and gave her that grin and she couldn't help but smile, but it did take a couple of moments for her heart rate to return back to normal.

Trying to help calm her nerves, Neal leaned over and gave Emma a quick kiss. "Sorry, babe, didn't mean to scare you. He woke up and... you know... I couldn't really ignore my boy." Henry moved so he could place his head to rest on his father's shoulder.

"Well, your girl isn't so happy being ignored either," she mocked and gave him a kiss back. She then ran her hand across Henry's jaw and the little boy yawned. "How was your trip?"

"It was good, but I missed you way too much." He pulled Emma in close for a hug until he felt Henry squirm in-between them. "He's gotten bigger over these past couple days. I swear he's grown." Neal started to softly rub circles on Henry's back and pressed a small kiss on his forehead, the touch making the toddler's fight with sleep more challenging.

"He gets bigger by the minute," Emma noted with a laugh as she pushed Henry's hair out of his face. "He missed his daddy though... like, I mean, a lot." Henry sleepily nodded his head in agreement.

"He did?" Neal rested his head on his son's, touched knowing how much he meant to him. "Well, I think I missed him more." Emma laughed and crawled back into her prior spot. Letting her head rest on the pillow, she began to close her eyes. "Why is he in here though?" Neal raised his brow and smirked as Emma's cheeks got red. "I thought that my little man has a very nice room just down the hall."

"Yeah, but he likes mommy's room so much better."

"Mommy's room?" Neal questioned and waited for her response.

"Well, daddy hasn't been home in four days, so yes, it's been mommy's room," she cleverly defended herself.

"Point taken... but seriously, I thought we were working-on staying in his own room." Neal walked over to his side of the bed, Henry now fast asleep in his arms. Clearly the boy wasn't going back to his room tonight.

"I know, and I tried... but, Neal, I couldn't. I was alone and he was alone in his room and crying, all I could here was him crying out "Mommy" and I... I just couldn't." She sighed. Hearing her son cry was never easy on her. With the life that she had growing up, she wanted to make sure that her son was happy. "You're usually here to help me get through it. It... it just broke my heart." She gave him the puppy dog eyes and pout, a look that he just couldn't argue with.

"Stop it with the eyes. Between you and Henry, I can never win anything." He huffed.

"Live with it," Emma laughed until a yawn took over.

"I do," Neal pointed out and she rolled her eyes at him. He responded with a shake of his head and rolled his eyes back at her. They both laughed and he crawled next to Emma.

Before he got comfortable, Neal gently placed Henry down between his parents. Henry, in his sleep, moved closer to his mother, curling into her body again, almost as if Neal hadn't moved him in the first place. Neal couldn't help but smile at how Emma moved her arms to secure her son into her hold and kissed the top of his head. He loved how good of a mother she was and how natural it was for her. When he glanced back over to her, he could see that she herself was fighting to keep her eyes open. It was clear that she wanted to ask how his trip had been, but he didn't want to keep her up. "Babe, go to sleep."

"Not tired, my eyes are just... a little heavy that's all," she whispered and took a breath. "I want to hear about your trip." She opened her eyes and patted Neal's leg for a moment and then moved to run her fingers through Henry's hair.

"It was fun. Actually, when I was there I learnt about this place, and I think we should go there. We can have our first family vacation, with the three of us." He looked up at the ceiling but glanced every so often at Emma to make sure she was still awake.

"Where is it?" she murmured.

"It's in Maine," he tested and scrunched up his face waiting for her response.

"Maine? You want to go all the way up to Maine for a family vacation?" She was clearly more awake now and trying to keep her voice at a low volume to try and not wake her son.

"Yeah, I mean I know it's far...but Em, I think it would be really good to see. Me, you, and the kid, just drive up there and stay a couple days, visit, walk around, see new areas and then we can come home." Now was not the time to admit that he was even thinking of moving there. This would finally get Emma to her family and he would give anything to make her happy.

"Ok, well, we can talk about it in the morning. Once we've both slept and maybe I can understand why you would want us to drive all the way up to Maine, with our almost 2 year old son." Emma sighed but a yawn took over. She might not have been traveling around like Neal had these past few days, but taking care of a two year old by herself, while Neal was away, was a little exhausting.

Neal knew he couldn't fight Emma on this. He couldn't push her to go, but they had to get there somehow. "Ok, deal. Now sleep." Neal gave her a soft kiss on the lips, "I love you." He rested his forehead against hers.

"Love you too. It's nice to have you home. I don't like it when you're away." She gave him a kiss back and closed her eyes. With the comfort of her son soundly sleeping in her arms, and Neal's arms wrapped around her, she felt safe and drifted off to sleep.

_It had taken Neal and August the past year and a half to find this "cursed" town. In truth, August was the one doing most of the travel. At the beginning, when coming up with a game plan, Neal had vetoed the idea of dragging Henry and Emma along, and agreed that he would do what he could from home. He would fly out every so often so it didn't seem that he was being completely useless. Both had agreed that it would be hard for Neal to up and leave his family all the time to search for the town. So, every couple of months, the two would meet up to discuss where August had gone and new possible locations that could be searched._

_Apparently looking in the town closest to the forest August and Emma were found hadn't crossed either of their minds until now. Feeling out of luck and just about out of hope, August returned back to the tree where he and Emma had entered this new world. It was then that he decided to take a short drive until he reached a quaint diner in a small town and couldn't say no to a hot cup of coffee. As he walked through the town he realized that all these faces looked somewhat familiar and that was when he had called Neal. At first, Neal thought August had finally given up and just wanted to believe he had found it so they could stop searching. It wasn't until the man/ puppet sent him a picture of a certain someone, that Neal believed him._

The next morning the conversation about the trip continued. It took a while but he finally convinced Emma to agree. Neal knew what he had to do. Whether he liked it or not, Neal, Emma, and Henry, would soon be heading to Storybrooke.

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Hope you guys enjoyed reading. Don't forget to review, I love hearing what you guys think.


	6. Chapter 6

Authors note: Hey guys, sorry it took so long to upload. Thank you so much for all the lovely reviews, favourites and follows. Hope you all enjoy the next chapter :)

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Chapter 6

"Em?" Emma turned her head in the direction of the sound of her name. She was currently sitting at the table, stuffing her face with the leftover pancakes from Neal's plate.

Neal walked into the kitchen to notice Emma's back turned towards him, he then looked toward his plate to see it almost completely cleared. "Really? I was gone for, like, not even five minutes and you managed to finish my plate?" Emma turned her body facing her boyfriend with a gigantic grin on her face.

"You know you love me." She giggled and took a bite of the shared fruit in the middle of the table. "What can I say, you make the best pancakes and I'm not going to eat Henry's just because he's still sleeping."

"You're lucky I love you." Neal rolled his eyes and walked towards Emma, giving her a kiss and sitting back down in his spot. "You ready to leave tomorrow?" Neal asked taking a couple of fruits.

"I am. I've also packed Henry's things... You have everything for the hotel and everything else right?" Emma questioned him and peeked at the clock on the stove.

"Yes, everything is ready for us. Don't worry, like I said before all you have to do is pack your things, because apparently I can't pack correctly." He mocked her and threw his arms into the air mimicking her.

"It's not that you can't pack, it's just you tend to pack more of one thing and less of another, and then I run out of shirts and have too many pants, or not enough underwear. I just want to be safe," Emma argued and stood up. "I think it's time that we wake Henry. If he sleeps any longer he won't nap, and I'm counting on his nap this afternoon." She winked at Neal as she walked away. It wasn't until he couldn't see her that Neal caught on, and a grin appeared on his face.

Emma entered Henry's room to find him sprawled out on his little bed (something he clearly gets from her). She sat down on the bed and moved the hair out of his face to give him a kiss on the forehead. "Hey buddy," Emma spoke gently and Henry moved his face to shield himself from the light. "Daddy made some really good pancakes for breakfast." Henry didn't move. "All right, I guess I'll just have to eat the rest of them."

Henry moved his face out of his pillow and squinted at his mom. "What kind of pancakes?" he asked curiously.

"Chocolate chip with a little bit of cinnamon on top." Emma smiled as her son popped out of bed.

"No, mommy. You can't eat my pancakes!" Henry got to his feet and ran to the kitchen, Emma followed slowly. She could hear Neal saying good morning to his son while Henry said a quick hello before asking about the pancakes.

When she walked back into the kitchen, Henry was sitting on Neal's lap and already digging into his breakfast. "Slow down kid, you're gonna get a tummy ache," Emma attempted to scold her son but who could scold him? Henry had chocolate already smeared across his face and was smiling from ear to ear.

"They yummy, Mommy!" Henry smiled and went back to his breakfast. It didn't take Henry very long to finish his food and when he was done he looked back at Emma who was watching him. "Mommy, I dirty." Emma laughed and nodded at him.

"Why don't we go wash you up, while your daddy cleans up the mess you made in the kitchen?" Henry nodded his head and raised his arms for his mother to lift him up. "Alright then. Let's make sure that we don't order any pancakes while we're on vacation. I would hate to have to give you a bath in the sink," Emma joked as they walked to the washroom.

"But mommy! Pancakes so good!" the two year old protested. "I eat them cleaner, pwomise!"

"Only if you promise," Emma agreed trying to hide her laughter. "Arms up," she instructed and Henry raised his arms as Emma lifted the shirt over his head. Once the dirty shirt was tossed into the laundry basket, Emma sat him on the closed toilet seat and prepared a washcloth for his face. "Are you excited to go on the trip tomorrow?" Emma asked as she washed his face. Henry nodded and let out a little giggle of excitement at the mention of the trip. "Good, because I'm looking forward to it too. Maybe your daddy will let us stop off in different places while driving and we can see things."

"Like what?" Henry asked as he tilted his head to the side.

"I don't know. Your daddy won't tell me what route we're driving." Emma laughed at her son who scrunched his face at her answer. That gave her an idea, Neal wouldn't tell her much about the trip and what he had planned but maybe if Henry asked he could get some answers. "Why don't you ask him? When Daddy gets you ready, walk up to him and say 'Daddy are we going to stop anywhere fun when we drive up to Maine?' and then maybe he'll tell you." Emma picked Henry up and rested him on her hip as she was preparing his toothbrush.

Once Henry was all clean, he looked to his mother again. "Mommy? Can I bring my teddy?" Henry asked with a worried look on his face. Neal had gotten Henry that teddy bear the day he was born, and the toddler never liked being apart from it. The thought of being apart from his teddy for an entire vacation scared him.

"Of course you can. What kind of a trip would it be without Teddy?" Emma answered and kissed his nose.

He seemed happy with the answer and for a moment it seemed like the toddler had run out of things to say or ask. "What about banky?" He asked while playing with a loose strand of Emma's hair.

"My blanket?" Emma pointed at herself.

"Mhm." Henry nodded. Emma smiled, she found it sweet how attached her son got to her baby blanket. The attachment to the blanket started when Henry was a little over a year old, Henry had woken up from a nightmare asking for his mother but she wasn't there. Neal tried to calm him down and decided to try Emma's baby blanket. It worked, it calmed Henry down right away. So when ever Emma had to work late into the night, or on the rare occasion she went out, they left the blanket with Henry so that he always had apart of his mother with him.

"I don't think I could be away from it for that long." Emma kissed her son's forehead trying to reassure Henry that it wasn't only him that needed the comfort of home. Henry gave her a smile, the same goofy smile that Neal gave as he pocked his head into the bathroom.

"How's it going in here?" Neal asked.

"We're done." Emma set Henry down on the floor. "Henry go with daddy to get dressed and then we can go for a walk to the park and walk off that breakfast we just ate." Emma took Henry's hand and gave it to Neal.

Henry followed his father back to his room and sat on his bed as Neal dug around Henry's closet for some play clothes. "Daddy?"

"Yeah buddy?" Neal turned his head towards his son.

"We gonna stop places when we dwive?"

Neal paused for a moment. Then it hit him, "did your mommy ask you to ask me that?" Neal questioned and raised a brow accusingly. Emma had been trying to get any information out of him, about the trip, for the past couple of weeks. He wouldn't leave it past Emma to use their son to try and get some answers.

"I just wondering," Henry answered and shrugged. He wasn't giving anything away, he was really their son.

"Well..." Neal looked back into Henry's closet, "we are going to have some fun on the trip, and maybe stop some places before we get to Main." Neal answered, not giving anything away. He spent weeks planning this trip and he wanted to keep it a surprise, something fun for both Emma and Henry.

"Ok." That was enough for the toddler who then went back to watching his father pick out his outfit. "Daddy, can I wear Superman?!" Henry exclaimed as he jumped off his bed and ran to his father.

"Superman, eh?" Neal looked at his son, who nodded enthusiastically. "I guess so." Neal searched through the folded clothes before he found the shirt his son was speaking of. He then pulled out a light pair of pants. "Alright buddy, let's see if we can both get dressed before Mommy," he challenged and Henry laughed.

By the time Neal got Henry dressed Emma was already dressed and waiting on the couch. Once Henry had spotted her, he ran towards her and leaped into her lap. "Mommy, I Superman!" Henry proudly pointed to his shirt.

"I can see that." Emma laughed, trying to fix the hair she had already brushed.

"I'll be ready in a minute." Neal called as he walked to their room.

"So, did you ask Daddy?" Emma asked quietly as she shifted Henry on her lap so he could look at her.

"He said we gonna stop places that are fun," Henry answered her, proud thinking that it was what she wanted to hear.

Emma smiled. "Good job, buddy. I can always count on you to be my partner in crime." She laughed, knowing very well that the answer Neal gave Henry wasn't one that she didn't know already, but Henry seemed so proud to have gotten that much information out of his father.

"We good team, Mommy!" Henry hugged her and she hugged him back. All of a sudden Emma started to tickle him and Henry burst out into a fit of laughter, and started rolling around the couch as she attacked him. "Mommy, stop!" he laughed.

"Alright I'm all ready." Neal walked back out of into the living room, his outfit matching with Henry's.

"Aww, my boys match. Maybe on this trip we can get Daddy to buy a new Superman shirt. His is getting a little old don't you think?" Emma pocked the symbol on Henry's the shirt, earning her another fit of giggles.

"Yeah!" Henry shouted and threw his arms in the air. "Daddy we can be Superheroes?!" Emma let him off the couch and he ran towards Neal who started getting Henry into his shoes.

"Yeah, and we can protect your Mommy from the all those evil men who always whistle at her." Neal looked over to Emma who just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Alright my Heroes, why don't we fly over to the park before lunch?" Emma got her shoes on and walked to the door.

Henry followed her by throwing one of his arms up in the air like Superman and made flying noises as he ran ahead of his parents and out the door, "I protect you, Mommy!"

"Hold up there Superman," Neal said as he ran after Henry. Emma just shook her head and laughed as she closed the door and followed her Heroes to the park. She hoped that she would have this much fun in Maine.

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They are off to Storybrook, any idea on what's going to happen? Reviews are always appreciated. :)


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